One Month of You by Suzanne Ewart

Author:Suzanne Ewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Whenever Dr. Baker has visited our house over the last two decades, it’s always struck me—as I’ve watched him hopping from foot to foot in the hallway, taking off his coat but keeping his hat on, in what I always imagined was an attempt to keep any more energy leaking out of him—how ill-fitted he is for his profession. With his Peter Kay levels of joviality, he might well have enjoyed great success on the telly if he hadn’t followed his calling into medicine.

Unfair, perhaps. After all, for many years he invariably would give good news, and for that he was very well suited: “It’s only a cold; it will clear of its own accord.” “No need to go to hospital for that rash; it’s nothing serious.” “Here, drink this yellow medicine, and you’ll be right as rain before you know it.” For the good news, Dr. Baker was excellent. It was the bad he struggled with. Not because he was incapable of speaking it. He delivered his news calmly and clearly. The problem was that no one ever believed bad news could come from him, which made it far harder to digest.

When I hear his familiar heavy knock and open the door to his ruddy cheeks, tweed flat cap, and red-and-blue-striped blazer, I let myself believe it again: the belief that something good is going to come of his visit. Happily, I lead him into the dining room, asking about his day and how many more house calls he has to make before offering to nip out and make him a cup of tea while he has a “wee chat” with Mum.

Waiting for him in the kitchen, I don’t allow myself to remember that any good news related to Huntington’s could only ever be a pebble skimming the lake of Mum’s illness before sinking out of sight. Instead, I hum the latest Little Mix song. Loudly. Determinedly.

At my insistence, despite her attempts to convince me she should be coming back, Debs has taken the last three nights off and I’ve looked after Mum at night after work. Out of sheer exhaustion this morning, I decided to take the day off. I left a message on the office answering machine at six this morning, knowing no one would be there yet, explaining I’d been throwing up all night and couldn’t possibly come in and spread my germs. In actuality, I’d been up all night watching QVC, bought a face cream and a new handbag, and drunk toxic levels of coffee to stay awake.

Seeing as I’m off on a weekday for once, it’s a good chance to find out how Mum’s really doing.

Dr. Baker comes to find me in the kitchen less than ten minutes after going in to see Mum. I turn to him, beaming, waiting for the reprieve.

“I’ve left your mum watching TV. I trust that’s OK?” he asks.

“That’s great.” I hand him his tea and motion to the breakfast barstools for him to sit. “Did you notice it? The lack of chorea?”

“Yes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.